Density Done Well

At the State of Downtown 2013 Economic Forum yesterday morning, the keynote speaker was an urban planner from Vancouver, B.C. who shared that city’s experience with density downtown. He described the efforts to convince the public of the environmental benefits of "density done well" or "ecoDensity" and then the evidence Vancouver sees now of successful urban planning. It was fascinating.

He listed three components of density done well:

1) Make sure that land use and transportation planning efforts are aligned.2) Require consistently high quality design, especially at the ground level.3) Provide the amenities and diversity that make density enjoyable.